Manufacture of crucibles.



PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905.

A.L.J.'QUENBAU. MANUFACTURE of GRUGIBLBS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W kv /Mlll PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905.

MANUPACTURE 0F CRUCIBLES.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 12,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wenfor? UNTTED STATES Patented June 13, 1905.

AUGUSTN L. J. QUENEAU, OF SOUTF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

IVIANUFACTURE OF CRUCIBLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,452, dated June 13, 1905.

Application filed November l2, 1904. Serial No. 232,460.

To nl?, '1071/0711, it may concern:

Be itknown that LAUGUsTIN L. J. QUENEAU, a citizen of the Republic of France,'residing at South Bethlehem, county of Northampton, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Crucbles; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

ln the manufacture of graphite crucibles as ordinarily practiced it is customary to take a weighed lump `of the proper mixture of tire-clay, graphite, and sand, suitably pugged, and to then slap and knead the said lump to free it from airbubbles, whereupon it is thrown into a mold, usually of plaster-ofparis, centered on a potters wheel. A templet is then lowered into the lump, and by the action of the workmans hands, together with the rotation of the mold, the graphite mixture is shaped into crucible forni. The vessel so made is quite soft and cannot be handled unsupported without collapsing, this being unavoidable because of the fact that to accommodate itself to the molding operation the mixture must be extremely plastic. It is necessary, therefore, in this usual practice to leave the crucible in the plaster-of-paris mold, which subserves a double purpose, to wit: to give support to the crucible and to facilitate its drying by absorbing some of the water. rlhe excess of-water necessary to this practice occasions in drying an objectionable porosity and lack of density in the finished article.

My present invention involves a radical departure from thel former practice and enables me to produce crucibles which in the process of manufacture have been subjected to great pressurew-say two thousand pounds to the square inch. Furthermore, the mixture itself is very dry, containing but just suflicient water to cohere when firmly pressed in the hands. Consequently the resulting vessel is very dense and strong, and when it issues from the press is able not only to sustain its own weight, but the weight of two or three like vessels superimposed upon it.

The mode of operation incident to the practice of the invention 'I iind results also in practically no breakage of crucibles and requires less labor and less storage room.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional view of a powerpress suitable for the practice of the invention, showing the crucible in course of manufacture. Figs. 1 and l represent, on a larger scale, detail views of the puppet-valve for the upper' portion of the inner head or former.

2 represents in elevation the upper portion of the press. Fig. 3 represents a vertical sectional view of the supplemental mold (with crucible in place) employed when it is desired to give a bilge or incurve to the crucible; and Fig. i represents, partly in section and partly in elevation, the upper portion of the press with the mold-section swung open, the supplemental mold, and auxiliary devices.

Referring' to the drawings, I indicatesa cylindrical chamber within which vmove the cylindrical rams F and G. The ram F carries a head C, corresponding in external configuration to the interior of the particular crucible to be made. The ram Gr is relatively short and constitutes an annulus and is connected by intermediate rods G and by the yoke O to the actuating plungers or pistons K of the power-cylinders M. The ram F is connected to the plunger' or piston J of the power-cylinder N by means of the key S. The combined cross -sectional area of the plungers K is less than the cross-sectional area of the plunger J.

It will be noted that the ram F is hollow and that it communicates with the outer atmosphere by means of the openings R. This, as will hereinafter more fully appear, is for the purpose of permitting air to enter and to iiow through the puppet-valve D at a certain period in the operation.

A indicates the top head of the press, and B indicates the mold-section, having a suitable lining B', corresponding in configuration to the desired exterior shape of the crucible. The thickness of the butt of the crucible is determined by the distance plates or shims H, which are made removable, so that others of greater or less thickness may be substituted IOO for them. The head or former (l and the mold-liningB/ are likewise removable and may be replaced by others, so as to make vessels of different shapes and sizes.

As clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the top head A and the mold-section B are both mounted to swing on the upright D and are both adapted to be locked upon the upright P. The upright P is provided with a threaded sleeve e, secured thereto in any suitable mannermas, for instance, by a locking-pin .fand upon this threaded sleeve plays the hexagonal locking-nut g, which may be clamped down upon a shoulder of the mold-section to lock it in place, as shown in Fig. Q, or backed to release the mold-section and permit it to be swung into the open position, as shown in Fig. 4. In like manner the top head A is adapted to be clamped down into a locked position by the releasahlc hexagonal nuts .17 ff engaging screw-threads upon the uprights D l). To facilitate the swingingof the mold-section and of the top head, they are conveniently provided with sockets /1/ for the insertion of the end of an operating bar or lever, and the several nuts may have the usual loose encircling box-keys for turning them.

The operation of the press is as follows: The proper mixture of graphite, tire-clay, and sand is pugged in a suitable pug-mill to the desired plasticity. The pugged mixture is then hammered into a wad of the proper size in the well-known hammering-machine. The hammered wad is then introduced into the cylinder I, the rams F and G having been lirst lowered for that purpose by permitting' the outfiow of the water from the hydraulic cylinders M M N. The mold B is then swung into position and likewise the top head A. The two are securely locked, and water under pressureis admitted into the cylinders M M N either from pumps directly connected to the press or from an accumulator. The ram F thereupon rises and forces the wad. to the top head A and the clear space. At the same time the annular ram G rises and the plastic material E iinally occupies the space indicated. A suitable gage indicates when the required pressure has been obtained, whereupon the inflow of water to the hydraulic cylinders is stopped and the outlet-valve of the cylinder N is opened, thus causing the ram F to drop. rlhe puppetvalve D then opens automatically and allows air entering' through the openings R to flow through, thereby preventing the formation of a vacuum above the head (l. 'When the head C reaches a lower level than the line e fw, the locking-nuts are loosened and the top head A and mold B are swung open, thereby shearing off the clay along said line /ef fm. A disk m, (see Fig. 4,) attached to a counterweighted rod T, is then lowered upon the inverted bottom fr of the crucible and the crucible is forced down until the line f1? 7/ has been lowered to the level fr fw, whereupon the excess of the plastic material is removed by a wire cutter'. To prevent the crucible from falling out d uring this lowering operation and in subsequently lowering it still farther to effect its discharge, I support it internally by the disk v1., mounted on the counterweighted rod V. The crucible may now be regarded as completed and ready to be taken to the cool drying-room unless it is considered desirable to first impart an incurve to its upper portion. To provide .for this special contingency, I may employ the supplemental mold L, (shown in Figs. 3 and 4,) which I arrange beneath the open mold B, as shown in Fig. 4, and by lowering' the crucible into this supplemental mold and slowly pressing it therein the plastic material may be caused to adjust itself to the incurving surfaces of the mold, as indicated in Fig. 3.

VInstead of employing counterweightcd rods for the disks m a they may be otherwise controlled-fas, for instance, by the pistons of pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders. vIn fact, it will be understood generally that other means for lowering the crucible may be employed than those particularly illustrated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isA 1. A power-press for making metallurgical vessels and the like, provided with a moldsection, a top head, an inner plunger carrying the mold core or former. an outer annular plunger, and a chamber within which said plunger-s operate the said mold-section heilig' mounted to move away from the said chamber to permit the discharge of the molded article; substantially as described.

2. A power-press for making metallurgical vessels and the like, provided with a moldsection, a top head, an inner plunger carrying the mold core or former, an outer annular plunger, and a chamber within which said plungers operate, the mold-section and top head being mounted to swing outwardly upon an upright of the press, and to be clamped in the locked position by means of releasable nuts upon screw-threads of another upright of the press; substantially as described.

3. A power-press for making metallurgical Vessels and the like, provided with a moldscction mounted to swing outwardly, in com.- bination with a sup porting-disk arranged below the mold-chamber when the outwardlyswung mold-section reaches the discharging position and substantially conforming in size to the bottom of the molded article; substantially as described.

et. A power-press for making` metallurgical vessels and the like, provided with a mold-section mounted to swing outwardly, in combination with an expelling-disk arranged above the mold-chamber when the outwardly-swung IOO IOS

mold-section reaches the discharging position, and a supporting-disk substantially conforming in size to the bottom of the molded articlel and arranged below and in line with the eX- pelling-disk; substantially as described.

5. A power-press for making metallurgical vessels and the like, provided with a mold-section mounted toswing outwardly, in combination with an expelling-disk arranged above the mold-chamber when the outwardly-swung mold-section reaches the discharging position, and a supportingfdisk arranged below and in line with the expelling-disk, said disks being mounted upon counterweighted operatingrods; substantially as described.

6. A power-press for making metallurgical vessels and the like, provided with a mold-section mounted to swing outwardly, in combination with a supplementary mold whose interior walls have an inward curvature, said supplementary mold being arranged belour the mold-section when the latter is in the discharging position; substantially as described.

7. A power-press for making metallurgical vessels and the like, provided witha mold-section mounted to swing outwardly, an expelling-disk for removing the vessel from the mold-section, a supplementary mold whose interior walls have au inner curvature, said supplementary mold being arranged below the mold-section when the latter is in the discharging' position, and a su pporting-diskin line with the expelling-disk and having an operatingrod which passes through the bottom oi" the supplementary mold; substantially as described.

8. A power-press for making metallurgical vessels and the like, provided with a swinging mold-section, a swinging top head, clamping devices for locking the mold-section and top head in place, a mold core or former, an inner plunger upon which the mold core or former is carried, an annular plunger surrounding the inner plunger, an exterior chamber within which the two plungers operate, and powercylinders for operating the plungers; substantially as described.

9. A power-press for making metallurgical vessels and the like, provided with a swinging mold-section, a swinging top head, clamping devices for locking the mold-section and top head in place, a mold core or former, an inner plunger upon which the mold core or former is carried, an annular plunger surrounding the inner plunger, an exterior chamber within which the two plungers operate, and power cylinders for operating the plungers, the moldcore being hollow and having a puppet-valve and the inner plunger being likewise hollow and having openings communicating with the atmosphere; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUSTIN L. J, QUENEAU.

i/Vitnesses:

F. E. PIERCE, S. P. VETHERILL, Jr. 

